


Not That Different

by Numerox



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:45:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18900469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Numerox/pseuds/Numerox
Summary: Scarlett and James Potter are twins. They used to be the best of friends. But, after tragedy strikes they don't get along. Scarlett even lies about her last name. No one knows that she is a Potter, besides her family. And she intends to keep it that way.But, in her 5th year at Hogwarts, things begin to change. Can Scarlett and James keep the Potter secret for any longer?





	1. Chapter 1

James Fleamont Potter and Scarlett Jackson Potter are twins. James had unruly brown hair with a pair of twinkling hazel eyes as well has crooked glasses resting on his nose. Scarlett was a thin girl and she was a brunette with stick straight hairl as well has warm hazel eyes with small flecks of gold. You couldn't tell the two were siblings, let alone twins, with looking at them closely. Even then, the only thing you might notice would be the eyes and the sort of similar face structure.

They were the best of friends. They did everything together. Everything was perfect until the summer before they started Hogwarts. They caused mischief together and worked on corrupting their younger brother Willie. But, it was all too good to last.

Our story starts on a warm summer day. James and his father had gone to look at the new Clean-sweep Seven in Diagon Alley and as much as Scarlett loved Quidditch, she was tired and had already seen the new broom. 

Scarlett was outside in the garden playing with her two-year old brother. She adored him to no end. It was a wonderful day and their mother was just inside cooking lunch when the day took a dark turn. 

Fleamont Potter was an auror and had made quite a few enemies. One of these enemies was hidden behind a bush while watching Scarlett teach her brother how to say new words. How better to destroy Fleamont then to hurt his children?

"Say dog Willie," said Scarlett and right as Willie opened his mouth to say something, she was blown backwards. A man appeared. Scarlett couldn't see his face but just by the way he walked she could tell that he was an extremely cruel man.

"Well, well well," said the man. "Two little Potters. I'll take mercy and get rid of the little one first." 

Before Scarlett could even react, her little brother was lying beside her with all light gone from his gorgeous green eyes. Scarlett screamed and ran over to the lifeless body of her little brother as the man chuckled cruelly.

Euphemia Potter was making sandwiches for her children when she heard her daughter scream. She glanced out the window and saw Scarlett crying over the body of Willie. She then looked up at the man standing over her daughter and unfroze. 

Overcome with grief and anger, she ran out tried to stun the man. Euphemia's spell barely missed him. The man was about to fight back when he saw the murderous look on her face and he quickly apparated away. Euphemia sent a patrons to her husband and quickly rushed over to her daughter and now lifeless son. 

Fleamont quickly appeared with James to next him. Both of their expressions morphed into horror. All four Potter shred at the scene for what seems like hours.

"What happened?" asked Fleamont his voice cracking at the end. 

"Scarlett was out here with Willie when this man attacked. He got to Willie when I noticed him. I tried to stop him but he appeared away and I couldn't see his face," Euphemia said stopping every few words to cry. 

"Did you see his face, Scarlett?" asked Fleamont as tears streamed down his face. 

"No," said a still sobbing Scarlett.

"Children, go inside for a bit." 

James and Scarlett quickly went inside where they sat in shock. 

All of a sudden, James said, "How could you not stop the man and how could you not see his face as you were right there! Somebody could have found him if you had actually paid attention. This is all your fault!" James actually didn't mean a word of it. He just needed something to take out his frustration on and Scarlett was right there. If James was in the position that Scarlett had been, he most likely would have done the exact same thing. If given the chance to take it back he would. He would have taken it back right then or at any moment in the future. But, he was too proud. He couldn't just apologize. 

Scarlett was most defiantly hurt by the words that left James' mouth. And worst of all, she believed him. She believed every word from James' mouth that he most defiantly did not mean. She was hurt and sad. He was sad and guilty. These feelings got in the way of the most amazing friendship they had ever had. 

Both Potters were never the same again. Scarlett grew introverted and forced her mischievous side away. No more witty comebacks and pranks from her. And, while Scarlett grew introverted, James, if possible, got more mischievous. He pulled pranks constantly and was filled with witty comments. But, this time there was no Scarlett with him. They acted as if they hated each other and they soon began to believe it. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The summer was over and James and Scarlett were on their way to Hogwarts. Euphemia and Fleamont were of course worried about their two children but they obviously thought that it would over soon. How wrong they were. 

Scarlett and James, although not speaking, both came to the same thought. They wouldn't mention Willie to anyone. Wouldn't even think of him. Too painful.

James entered the train first and found himself in an empty compartment. But it wasn't an empty compartment for longs. James soon found himself with three boys. The first to come in was Sirius. When James found out he was member of the dreaded Black family James was shocked but had already decided that he didn't care. After all, Sirius had a wicked sense of humor. Remus Lupin was also in the compartment. Remus was obviously quite serious but had a good sense of humor and was extremely smart. Peter Pettigrew was the last to join them and he seemed to look at the other boys in all. But, James liked him. He was laughing and smiling, for real, for the first time in a long while. 

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Scarlett entered the train looking for an empty compartment. But she had been jostled by the crowd so by the time she made it to the train all the compartments were already full. She decided upon opening the nearest compartment door. Unluckily that was the compartment where her brother was. He was with three other boys. One boy was tall with sandy brown hair and many scars. The boy next to him had silky black hair and startling grey eyes. And the last boy. Well, to sum it up, he was short pudgy and round. But, he looked sweet. 

"What are you doing here?" sneered her brother. 

"Wrong compartment. Sorry. I'll just be going," she said quietly but with the same sneer in her voice. 

She turned on her heel to leave when the boy with silky black hair called out, " Wait, who are you?"

Who was she? Well, Scarlett of course. Scarlett Potter. But, why did she hesitate to say Potter? It had never happened before. Then it hit her. She didn't want to be James Potter's twin anymore. He had hurt her too much. And all though, after she had thought about it all summer, the incident wasn't her fault. James was just showing his true colors to her. The bond they had was gone. So, why should she have to deal with people who would ask her why she and her brother didn't get along? She didn't want to get compared to him. She could use her middle names, which was actually her grandfather's name, as a last name and she wouldn't have to deal with James at all. She could be her own person. It was about time anyways. 

"Scarlett Jackson," she said with a huff and left in one quick motion, not even noticing James' shocked and somewhat hurt expression. 

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James was in shock. Scarlett had just changed her last name. She obviously hated him now. Well, he could he return the favor. 

"Are you okay, mate?" asked Sirius. "Do you know her?" 

"I am perfectly fine and I have never seen her before in my life," said James with a huff. 

Luckily, the other boys had let it drop. James had spent all summer convincing himself that he right when he said those things to Scarlett. And he had finally convinced himself of this when she had refused to be known as a Potter. And, well, over the years James continued to believe that he was completely right.


	2. Chapter Two: Well, This Sucks

Scarlett was in the common room with Lily on a beautiful Saturday morning. They were discussing the pros and cons of quidditch. Scarlett was a rather good quidditch player but she wasn't on the team as James had beat her to try-outs in 2nd year. She had only been later to tryouts than him by two minutes and she didn't want to spend that much time with her brother. Lily thought that quidditch was a very stupid sport. 

"You know, if you actually sat on a broom, Lily, you might actually enjoy it," said Scarlett with a smirk. 

"Or I might die. Anyways, I never see you on a broom."

"Well, let's go to the pitch right now and I'll show you my skills. Accio broom!" said Scarlett with a grin that made her hazel eyes twinkle. Lily was startled when she realized that Scarlett looked a bit like Potter. 

"Fine," said Lily. "But, you do the flying."

"Great," said Scarlett as she grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her towards the pitch. 

Little did Scarlett and Lily know, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter were watching the conversation. 

"Well, that was interesting. Do you wanna follow them?" said Sirius he very curious as he never knew that Scarlett was a big fan of quidditch. Maybe this could help him figure out why James hated her. Of course, he didn't know her at all so there was no surprise there. 

"No," said James quite forcefully.

"She might be good for the quidditch team," Sirius said hoping that would tempt his friend as James was an excellent Chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team. 

"That is what I am afraid of," said James though he obviously thought that nobody had heard him. Sirius had heard him though. Why didn't James want Scarlett on the team?

Sirius shrugged, grabbed James by the arm, sent a glance at Remus and Peter as if to tell them to hurry up, and set out purposely out of the portrait hole. 

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Lily had fallen off the broom ten times before she called quits and gave Scarlett back her broom so that she could sit on the stands. Scarlett jumped on the broom and starting flying fastly and whooping and doing tricks. She didn't have a quaffle (she usually was a chaser) but she was having fun flying fast in the air. When she actually played quidditch she loved to get the quaffle and zip away from others in order to score. She felt the wind in her hair and watched ground blur beneath her. When she was younger James used to say that he could never see her coming. When they were younger they used to spend hours playing quidditch before their parents forced them to come in and eat. Scarlett would have loved to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. It was her goal when she was younger. But, that meant spending too much time with her brother who was also a chaser. 

After what felt like only a few minutes of flying to Scarlett, but was actually quite a long time, she stopped flying. She looked around at the beautiful scene. In the far distance, Scarlett could see Hagrid merrily walking about the grounds. She also saw a threstal in the distance. She found the creatures beautiful. They were simply beautiful. But, they also terrified her. A threstral also meant that if you could see them you had seen death. Scarlett had seen her share of death because of the incident with Willie. When arriving at Hogwarts in her 2nd year, these creatures had terrified her since only she could see them. She had thought that she was going crazy. But, when Scarlett had learnt what those creatures really meant she spent the whole entire night crying her eyes out. 

Scarlett figured that she should probably head back to Lily in the bleachers. She must look like a total lunatic sitting there staring at nothing. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lily did not like quidditch. She also wasn't very good at it. Despite her resolution to let Scarlett do all the flying back in the common room, she had ended up falling off the broom multiple time. It didn't help that Scarlett started laughing her arse off after she made sure Lily was okay.

Speaking of Scarlett, it never ceased to amaze Lily how great Scarlett was at flying. Lily could barley even see her. She didn't understand how a broom could move so fast. She didn't know much about quidditch at all. Then again, she had grown up believing that brooms were strictly for cleaning. 

"She's good," she heard someone say. She quickly turned to see Black with an awed look on his face. He had his arm gripped firmly upon James' arm as if he had to drag him there which was odd because Lily got the feeling that James breathed quidditch. Remus and Pettigrew were standing there looking almost as awed as Sirius. To her surprise, Potter looked like he had suspected this was going to happen and that he looked he wanted to leave. Sirius was physically restraining him from leaving. 

This really puzzled Lily. Scarlett didn't tell many people about her quidditch talent. Potter was looking at Scarlett as if he had seen it all before. In fact, he didn't look as arrogant and as self assured. He looked sort of like a deer in headlights who seriously needed a hug. Lily stopped herself right there. Give Potter a hug? That was utterly disgusting. Her brain must have been malfunctioning. That was the only explanation. 

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James did not want to spy on his sister playing quidditch. He knew how good she was. When they were younger, they used to play one on one quidditch matches for hours and hours and the two of them were always neck and neck. The grew up together and they made an excellent team of chasers. 

When he arrived, he noticed Scarlett was having fun zipping and flipping through the air. This made James almost want things to go back to being how they used to be. But, things would still be the same if she hadn't majorly screwed up with Willie. James had to remind himself of this fact again and again. 

Scarlett had pulled her self to a stop and if James really squinted, he could see a troubled look on her face. James followed her gaze. He saw a threstral above the trees. James knew what seeing a threstral meant. He had seen death when he was younger and was in Diagon Alley with his father. They had come across a cruel and twisted and man hurting another man. By the time James' father came the man was almost dead and died in plain sight. Luckily, James' father was able to duel the man and eventually stunning him so he could go to Azkaban. James was there the whole time hiding behind a pillar. It was a very scary experience. Sirius and Remus were the only ones he had told about the incident after he had woken up crying from a nightmare. Peter had slept through it and James didn't want to talk about it again. 

Sirius followed James gaze and saw what he was looking at. He squeezed James' arm reassuringly (which he still had in a death grip that was keeping James from going back to sleep). Sirius had surely seen someone pass with crazy parents like his. Remus and Peter were clearly confused of the whole ordeal but Peter just shrugged and Remus looked at them critically before turning away. 

James looked around the pitch again and saw Lily sitting in the front rows of the bleacher staring right up at him. 

"Like the view from down there, Evans? Though I could have sworn the pitch was the other way. I must be extraordinarily handsome today." asked James with a smirk on his face. 

"Actually, I was wondering what you were doing here stalking us?" said Lily with a sneer on her face. She looked gorgeous. Sirius notced their conversation and walked over to Lily and he was still gripping James. Does Sirius really think he would try to leave with Lily here? Of course, Scarlett was here too so he should consider leaving. 

Speak of the devil, his sister showed up with a whoosh and a scowl on her face.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sirius was quite stunned by how good Jackson was at quidditch as she was a blur on the field. He should try to recruit her. After all, he was quidditch captain. Sirius was a also stunned that she could see threstrals. Who had she seen die? Sirius could see them because his father had killed a muggle in front of him. The memory still made him shiver. 

"What are you doing here?"said Jackson while glaring at James. Again. Why do they hate each other? "Oh, and hey Remus."

"We're to just here to play quidditch. You know, we are allowed to do that," said Sirius. Not one of his better lies considering the fact they didn't have brooms and James seemed to agree as he sent Sirius a glare. 

"Without brooms?" asked Lily with a raised eyebrow. There goes our story.

"Fine. You caught us. But, why we are here is beyond the point. I saw you fly, Jackson, and you're really good. You should try out for the team," I said as I completely turned a blind eye to the glare that James was sending me.

For a second, Jackson's whole face lit up. But, then it quickly fell and she shot James a cold glare. "I'm not sure. Just let me think about it."

Lily looked ecstatic and Scarlett looked shocked at her answer and James looked mad and shocked at the same time. Sirius was glad that he had found a possible replacement for a chaser that had left last year. He would just have to work on making it a permanent replacement.


	3. Chapter Three: Friends?

Scarlett was starting to get annoyed. Sirius kept coming up to her and asking Scarlett to try out. Saying that she would maybe try out for the quidditch team was maybe the biggest mistake of her life. He had asked her so many times in potions that she was ready to chuck it at his head. Although, Scarlett had to admit Black had saved her potions more times than she could count. Slughorn was in shock that Scarlett, the person who usually bombed potions, was suddenly making textbook perfect potions. 

Scarlett was headed to Transfiguration which was her very best class (it was also the last class of the day so that made it even more awesome). She excelled in it and aced every test with ease. So did James. It was a Potter thing. Blow up potions but totally exceed in turning things into cats. In Transfiguration there was no assigned seating so she could sit with Lily. For all of Lily's brilliance, she was not very good at Transfiguration. She still had excellent grades in the subject it just took a lot of work for her. So, Scarlett knew it royally ticked off her best friend that she could do this subject with her eyes closed. 

"Hey Lily," Scarlett said with a smile as she plopped down. "Do you know what were doing today? I really hope it involves turning Slytherins red. Especially Snivellous. I mean Snape. Yeah Snape. I totally don't think the slimy git would look great with Gryffindor themed hair."

"How many times have I told you? Severus isn't that bad and before you say something, he isn't a slimy git." 

Scarlett was about to disagree but Professor McGonnagall came in before she could. Scarlett thought that McGonnagall was an amazing teacher although she did scare Scarlett from time to time. All of a sudden, there was an explosion behind McGonnagall's desk. She looked around the room and quickly found the culprits as they were laughing their heads off. 

"Black, Potter! Detention, tonight at 8 o'clock sharp. And to make sure that this doesn't reoccur, I am switching you too so you can't sit next to each other," said McGonnagall with a murderous look on her face. Scarlett pitied anyone who was on the receiving end of that glare. She also pitied the poor soul who would have to sit next to Black or her brother. 

"But Minnie," whined Sirius, "You can't separate us. That is just too tragic. Besides, don't take your anger on the fact that you can't date me on Jamie and I!" Black said in a very dramatic voice as he clutched his chest.

"Well, too bad. Black you go sit next to Miss Jackson and Miss Evans please kindly sit next to Mister Potter." 

Scarlett didn't like this. First potions and now transfiguration. The universe was really out to get her. Next, a giant hairy spider would move into her dorm. 

"Well, hello again," said Black with a smirk on his face. "I guess your stuck with me again."

"Unfortunaly."

"I am hurt. I thought we went from hatred to extreme dislike in potions. You should try to be more polite." Scarlett sent Black a murderous glare before turning back to face McGonnagall. 

The lecture today had been quite simple to Scarlett but as she turned to Black he looked utterly lost. Kind of like a puppy actually. 

"For homework today, I want you to write eighteen inches on the lecture today. It is due tomorrow," said McGonnagall. She was met with many groans around the room. Scarlett wasn't that bothered as she was good at this subject but Lily had her head in her hands. When she looked at Sirius, Scarlett noticed that he had a strange look of confusion and panic on his face. Scarlett almost snorted in amusement. 

"How the hell am I supposed to do this? I am totally rubbish at this subject," said Black under his breath.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James was okay with assignment. In fact, he had already finished it. All throughout dinner, people in his year complained. Sirius was the loudest and surprisingly so was Lily. Right now, James was in the common room practicing a particularly difficult charm and he wasn't having much luck. He looked over to Lily. She was bent over her paper scribbling furiously. She looked absolutely adorable. James decided to walk over. 

"Hey Lily-kins.'

"Go away Potter." She said this without looking up.

"You know, I could help you," said James with a genuine smile. 

"What do you know about Transfiguration?"

"Enough to have already finished."

"How? This essay is impossible!" James was quite surprise that there was no contempt in her voice. So, James started to explain the topic in depth and Lily looked like she was seeing him for the first time. 

"Thanks," said Lily and James was very very surprised when she sent him warm smile that seemed to make her emerald eyes glow. James very very happily returned it.

Lily started to write extremely fast and looked like she at least knew what to write. James decided he might as well practice the charm. Of course, it didn't go as planned and the first year whose eyebrows were singed off would agree. 

"Sorry. I really would fix it if I knew how," said James sheepishly. He turned towards Lily and expected her to reprimand him and leave with a huff. But, he was surprised when she laughed and simply flicked her wand to fix the poor boys eyebrows. 

"Thanks Lily."

"No problem," she replied while turning back to her paper as she began to scribble again with ferocity. It seemed as if James had actually made progress with her.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lily was quite surprised. Potter was actually being nice and he knew a lot about Transfiguration. Also, he apologized when his charm went wrong. Since when did James Potter apologize? And since when did he call her Lily and not Lily-kins or Lily-pad? Lily internally shrugged and went back to writing her essay while James continued to try the charm (and fail). 

After a while, Lily had finished and was immensely proud of herself. She looked over and noticed that James' wand was smoking. 

"Here. This is how you do it," said Lily as she flicked her wand and said the correct incantation. She had obviously startled James who had been glaring at his wand earlier. 

James tried what she had suggested and he grinned at her when it worked. 

"Thanks Lily."

"No problem, James." 

"Wait, you called me James!" he said with a grin on his face. 

"I did, didn't I?" I said. Lily hadn't met to call him by his first name. But it had sorta slipped from her lips. 

"Lily?"

"Yes?"

"Do you wanna start over and just be friends?" 

Lily thought it over. James had been nice to her and had gone all night without asking her out. She decided to take a risk. 

"Sure. That would be great.'' Those five words caused James to grin like an idiot and Lily thought he looked like a kid on Christmas. The two began to talk and laugh as if they had been friends before. Earlier today, she would have laughed her head off if someone told her she would nearly fall to the floor laughing at one of Potter's jokes. But now, she wasn't so sure. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Sirius groaned in frustration. He really hated Transfiguration. He looked up and nearly fell off the coach when he saw his best mate chatting with Evans. Looks like the bloke finally caught some luck. It was about time. What also caught his eye was Scarlett Jackson coming in through the portrait hole. She looked gorgeous with the fire light behind her. Wait. Since when did Sirius think that Scarlett was pretty, let alone gorgeous? 

Sirius watched her look around as she noticed that the only empty seat was next to Sirius on the couch. As she sat down, he nodded towards her and turned back to his homework where he had no idea what to write.

"Minnie is evil. I am going to go down to her office and demand she take the essay back," grumbled Sirius. Usually, he would get James or Remus to help him. But, James was actually talking to his dream girl and Sirius had no idea where Remus was. So, he was on his own. 

"Need some help?" said a voice that was soon identified as Scarlett Jackson's.

"Yes please," said Sirius. She then launched into an explanation that was freakishly similar to one of James' but it made sense and Sirius began to copy down what she said and pretty soon he had finished.

"Thanks so much," he said with a big grin.

"Your welcome. Besides, think of it as a way to thank you for helping me with potions. Also, you've pranked Snivellous so you can't be that bad."

"You think Snape's a git?" Sirius was mildly surprised. He had thought she shared the same views as Lily. Guess he was wrong.

"Yup. He's even nominated as git of the year," she said with a very serious face before flashing him a grin. And just like that, the two bonded over how big a git Snape was. 

Sirius really enjoyed talking to Scarlett and somewhere in that conversation they had stopped calling each other Black and Jackson. 

"So, you wanna be friends?" said Scarlett sticking out her hand. 

"Of course," he said as he picked her up and twirled her around. She laughed loudly and they got some odd looks as earlier that day they had barely spoken to each other.


End file.
